Ministers are pushing ahead with plans for a £5 billion sale of shares in Lloyds Banking Group by Easter, in spite of a tough stance from regulators that have dashed the bank’s hopes it could resume dividend payments next month.

A hybrid share sale in which retail investors can piggy-back on an institutional offer is pencilled in for early April, with a more ambitious traditional offer aimed at small investors, or “Sids”, planned for September or October, The Times has learnt. Up to £10 billion of shares could be offered then.